The employee benefits division of Toronto-based life insurance distribution firm PPI has acquired a majority interest in Calgary-based small business benefits provider CustomCare Inc., the company announced on Wednesday.

Kitchener, Ont.-based PPI Benefits Inc. provides employee benefits products and consulting services to Canadian businesses and their employees through advisors. Thus, the acquisition was a natural fit for expanding that business, said Jim Burton, chairman and CEO of PPI, in a statement.

“CustomCare’s affordable health-care benefits already meet the needs of more than 6,000 small businesses in Canada,” Burton said. “We see it as an ideal fit with our existing PPI Benefits group to bring this unique offering to even more firms and their employees.”

CustomCare provides small businesses with health insurance as well as Private Health Services Plans (PHSPs), which are vehicles that business owners can use to reimburse qualifying medical and dental expenses to employees. The medical expenses reimbursed through PHSPs represent a tax-free benefit for employees and are tax-deductible to businesses.

CustomCare will continue to operate under its current name as a division of PPI Benefits Inc., and David Udy, one of the founders of CustomCare, will stay on as a director of the new organization.

“I am excited about this partnership with PPI Benefits and see it as an opportunity to significantly build on our successful growth to this point,” Udy said in a statement.

Ed Hofstede, who was appointed president of PPI Benefits in April, added that CustomCare’s offerings complement those at PPI: “Unique proprietary solutions with intelligent tax savings have been a hallmark of PPI since the beginning, and we are pleased to carry on that tradition.”